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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Benita Kolovos

John Pesutto should be at his weakest. So why hasn’t Moira Deeming’s victory been fatal to his leadership?

Moira Deeming and John Pesutto.
The federal court found that Victorian MP Moira Deeming was defamed by the Victorian Liberal leader, John Pesutto. Composite: AAP

Just weeks into his leadership of the Victorian opposition, John Pesutto led the push to expel rookie MP Moira Deeming from the Liberal party room.

In so doing, he “bandied around” words like “Nazi” and “Nazi sympathisers”, according a federal court judge, who on Thursday found Pesutto defamed Deeming, and ordered that he pay $300,000 in damages.

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